SIBU: University of Technology Sarawak (UTS) has successfully achieved its target of 5,000 students, two years ahead of the deadline set by the state government.
Its Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Datuk Dr Khairuddin Abdul Hamid. said the total number of active UTS students is now 5,003, compared to only 1,368 students in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The state government set a target of 5,000 students by 2027, but we managed to achieve it earlier.
“The number of students increased to 2,229 in 2022, 2,794 in 2023, 4,464 in 2024, and this year it reached 5,003,” he said at the Undergraduate Students’ Pledge Ceremony for the September 2025 Intake ar UTS campus here on Friday.
Khairuddin said the record number showed an increase of more than twofold in the three years after the pandemic, thus reflecting the community’s confidence in the quality of education offered by UTS.
For this September intake, UTS accepted 611 new students consisting of 588 undergraduate students and 23 postgraduate students (masters and PhD).
“Of the total, 590 students are from Sarawak, 13 from other states including Labuan, Johor, Sabah and Selangor, while eight international students are from China, Pakistan, the Netherlands and Indonesia,” he said.
According to him, this year alone as of September, UTS has accepted 1,747 new students and the number is expected to reach 2,000 after the November intake.
However, he said, the achievement is not just about chasing numbers, but rather the university is more focused on welfare, safety and quality of education.
“All UTS programmes are recognised by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) and the Ministry of Higher Education, in addition to receiving international recognition,” Kahiruddin added.
